Death sentences
Archive theme
A death sentence is not the same thing as an execution: years can pass between the two, and the sentence may be overturned on appeal, commuted, or never carried out. Counting them separately measures two different things: how far a state resorts to capital punishment, and how far it actually applies it.
This page collects the news on death sentences handed down around the world, on the later stages of appeal, and on the sentences upheld or overturned. Executions have a page of their own.
Latest news
- NOVEMBER 2, 2018DEATH PENALTY
TENNESSEE (USA): EDMUND ZAGORSKI EXECUTED BY ELECTRIC CHAIR
Edmund Zagorski was executed on November 1st, 2018.
- NOVEMBER 2, 2018South SudanDEATH PENALTY
S SUDAN PARDONS DEATH SENTENCED S AFRICAN
South Sudan President Salva Kiir decided to pardon death sentenced South African William Endley, SAnews reported on 1 November 2018.
NOVEMBER 2, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN GETS DEATH FOR RAPE, KILLING MINOR
In a major verdict Sessions Judge SK Tekam on 31 October 2018 awarded capital punishment, ‘Hang till Death’ to a man for rape and killing a four-year-old girl.
- NOVEMBER 1, 2018TennesseeDEATH PENALTY
USA - Tennessee. Edmund Zagorski was executed on the electic chair.
USA - Tennessee. Edmund Zagorski was executed on the electic chair.
- OCTOBER 31, 2018PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN ASIA BIBI HAS DEATH PENALTY CONVICTION OVERTURNED
Pakistan's Supreme Court on 31 October 2018 acquitted a Christian woman who has been on death row for almost eight years on blasphemy charges.
- OCTOBER 31, 2018IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: A FEMALE PRISONER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ADULTERY
A female prisoner detained in Khoy Prison, who was arrested on November 2016, was accused of adultery (sex outside marriage) after being sued by her husband and has been sentenced to death by the Criminal Court (Branch 1), the Kurdistan Human Rights Netwo
- OCTOBER 31, 2018TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced Kristopher Love to death
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced Kristopher Love to death
- OCTOBER 30, 2018DEATH PENALTY
SOUTH DAKOTA (USA): RODNEY SCOTT BERGET EXECUTED
Rodney Scott Berget, 56, White, was executed on 29 October 2018.
- OCTOBER 30, 2018United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
UAE: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER STABBING NEIGHBOR 13 TIMES
An Asian man has appealed his death sentence after being accused of murdering his neighbor and trying to rape his wife, khaleejtimes reported on 25 October 2018.
- OCTOBER 30, 2018Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
UN rights experts urge Saudi Arabia to halt six imminent executions
30 October 2018: six were minors at the time of activities related to anti-government protests in 2011
OCTOBER 30, 2018SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: DRUG COURIER GETS DEATH PENALTY AFTER ESCAPING GALLOWS LAST YEAR
A Malaysian drug courier who escaped the gallows last year after the High Court reduced his charge, was on 25 October 2018 sentenced to the death penalty after the Court of Appeal overturned the earlier decision.
- OCTOBER 30, 2018United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. Federal prosecutor will pursue capital punishment for Robert Bowers, the “synagogue shooter”
USA - Federal. Federal prosecutor will pursue capital punishment for Robert Bowers, the “synagogue shooter”
- OCTOBER 29, 2018South DakotaDEATH PENALTY
USA - South Dakota. Rodney Scott Berget, 56, White, was executed.
USA - South Dakota. Rodney Scott Berget, 56, White, was executed.
OCTOBER 29, 2018KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: GARDENER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING JACOBUS VAN DER GOES
A gardener was sentenced to death on 26 October 2018 for the murder of Dutch national Jacobus Van Der Goes at his residence in Nyali, Mombasa County.
OCTOBER 26, 2018MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: MAN TO HANG FOR KILLING WOMAN IN CONFINEMENT
A security guard was sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court on 15 October 2018 after he was found guilty of murdering a woman in confinement, three years ago.
OCTOBER 25, 2018BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 3 TO WALK GALLOWS FOR KILLING MEHERPUR AUTO DRIVER
A court in Meherpur on 23 October 2018 sentenced three people to death and two others to three years’ imprisonment for killing the driver of a battery-run auto-rickshaw in 2016.
- OCTOBER 25, 2018VirginiaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Virginia. Split Jury Spares Iraq-War Vet (Ronald Hamilton) in High Profile Virginia Capital Case.
USA - Virginia. Split Jury Spares Iraq-War Vet (Ronald Hamilton) in High Profile Virginia Capital Case.
- OCTOBER 23, 2018IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: TRADERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 'DISRUPTING ECONOMY'
Iran's Supreme Court has upheld death sentences given to two financial traders convicted of illegal currency trading and "disrupting the economy", RFE/RL reported on 23 October 2018.
OCTOBER 23, 2018IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 13 WOMEN SENTENCED TO DEATH
The Central Criminal Court in Baghdad has sentenced 13 Turkish women to death over affiliation to Islamic State, DPA reported on 21 October 2018.
OCTOBER 23, 2018IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: MILITANT SENTENCED TO DEATH 3 TIMES OVER TERRORISM CHARGES
An Iraqi court has sentenced a militant from Anbar province to death over involvement in terrorist charges, a judicial source said on 21 October 2018.
OCTOBER 22, 2018IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO PRISONERS HANGED IN ISFAHAN
Two prisoners were hanged on 16 October 2018 in Isfahan on murder charges.
OCTOBER 18, 2018PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: IMRAN ALI HANGED FOR SIX-YEAR-OLD'S DEATH
Pakistan on 17 October 2018 hanged a man convicted for the rape and murder of six-year-old Zainab Ansari in January.
OCTOBER 17, 2018South KoreaDEATH PENALTYSOUTH KOREA: 61 PEOPLE CURRENTLY ON DEATH ROW
South Korea currently has a total 61 people on death row, with 57 people in ordinary correctional facilities and 4 in military prisons, The Hankyoreh reported on 17 October.
OCTOBER 17, 2018MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Judicial Commissioner Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed of the Penang High Court on 8 October 2018 sentenced Keow Sze Teve, 36, to death for dangerous drug trafficking and 16 years jail with 12 strokes of rotan for possession of firearms and bullets.
OCTOBER 16, 2018MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: CABINET AGREES ON MORATORIUM OF DEATH SENTENCE FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISTRIBUTOR
The Cabinet has agreed to place a moratorium on the death sentence of Muhammad Lukman, who was sentenced for possessing, processing and distributing medical marijuana (cannabis oil), The Star reported on 12 October 2018.
- OCTOBER 16, 2018VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: SOUTH AFRICAN DRUG SMUGGLER SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Vietnamese court has sentenced a South African man to death for smuggling cocaine from Brazil into the Southeast Asian country, state media reported on 28 August 2018.
OCTOBER 16, 2018EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: 3 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING POLICEMEN
A court in Egypt on 14 October 2018 sentences three people to death for their involvement in the killing of 10 policemen and for belonging to an extremist group, a judicial source said.
OCTOBER 15, 2018EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: MILITARY COURT SENTENCES 17 PEOPLE TO DEATH FOR THE ATTACK ON COPTIC CHURCHES
A military court in Egypt has sentenced to death 17 people, held responsible for a series of attacks against some Coptic Christian churches in the country
OCTOBER 15, 2018IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR HEDAYAT ABDOLLAHPOUR
Supreme Court Branch 47 has upheld the death sentence for Urmia prisoner Hedayat Abdollahpour, one of several defendants charged in connection to the Oshnavieh clashes, his lawyer Hossein Ahmadiniaz told HRANA on 10 October 2018. It also upheld the prison
OCTOBER 12, 2018SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: 58-YEAR-OLD MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A Singaporean man who was arrested while trying to buy heroin to sell it to others was sentenced to death on 5 October 2018.